Someone has to be the bad guy

Guess it's me.

Mister C took the garbage can to the curb tonight and got talking with the neighbor across the street. At one point, he came in and then went back out. I didn't think too much of it. Until he came back in the second time and informed me that he had just bought books from someone. Someone who approached him and the neighbor. On the street. After dark. With no ID. And the books would come later. I about fell out of my chair. I could not believe how gullible he was. I asked him if he was serious. He was. I asked him if the kid claimed to be a journalism student who needed the money to go work with the BBC in London. He looked shocked that I knew that. I asked if the kid claimed to live nearby. He couldn't believe I could know that either. I asked how much he gave the kid. He told me $55. Are you effin kidding me? Lord have mercy, I love my husband but I will not take him to New York City any time soon. He's a walking target.

Mister C went back outside and I followed him a minute later to see if he got our money back. He hadn't even tried. But he was kind enough to point out the young man that had scammed him and was walking towards us. In his defense, the kid was very nice and not at all belligerent. I guess they're training them better these days.

I asked him where he lived and he gave me an address. I asked him if it was his house and he said it was his parents. I asked him if they owned and he replied that they rented. I asked for their names. And then I told him to wait right there. I went inside and checked the assessor's website to see if the house came up as a rental. The stupid site was down. So I went back outside and told the kid point blank that I didn't believe that he was legitimate and that while I couldn't prove it right then I would. He was very gracious in giving back the check my husband had written and even gave us his cell phone number so we could "call him to come back tomorrow" after we figured out that he was on the up and up. I asked him where the area code was from and he said he had been living in California. He went on his way and I went back in my house.

The website did come back up and the house showed as a rental so I called the owner. She had only recently rented the house but the people were from Arizona, not California. And they weren't the people Mr. Sales Guy gave as the residents of the house. So yeah, scam artist city.

Mister C is very smart. He does things that most people can't even begin to understand. But he has absolutely no ability to spot a sales pitch or a scam artist. He believes what people tell him. Which is why I have a "No Solicitors" sign on my door. Apparently he shouldn't be allowed outside without supervision either.